get the u.s. government past the immediate stumbling block of the failure to raise the debt ceiling. that's a legal matter. as a political matter, i think it's basically a nonstarter because it seems comical and it seems ridiculous. >> bruce, you suggest an alternate strategy which is one bill clinton has talked about and colombia law professors do. which is the president should essentially say, i have the implicit authority to raise the debt ceiling without congress, correct? >> that's right. of course, i'm not a legal scholar, but i do oppose the existence of the debt limit. i even testified before the senate finance committee that we should get rid of it. i think it's a dreadful left over from ancient history that simply creates opportunities for hostage taking by congress, such as the one we're facing right now and our foreign policy, we don't negotiate with hostage takers for a very good reason and i think that we need to get rid of this debt limit. but i'm perfectly willing to go along with the trillion dollar coin, if that's what's necessary to prevent this hostage from being
